summer pea and roasted red pepper pasta salad
I’ve spent way too much time this summer trying to dream up a pasta salad that wasn’t boring, or predictable, or well, you know, the kind of familiar pasta salad territory you don’t need me to go over for you. Because I love a good pasta salad, I just don’t find them often. Usually, they’re missing the freshness you’d expect from something you eat in the summer, when the markets are bursting at the seams with peak-season produce. Often the dressing is a throw-away, either a too-plain vinaigrette or heaps of mayonnaise, lending itself to more of a than a salad. So I knew what I didn’t want, I just hadn’t figured out what I did.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
What these numbers assume — 9 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pasta | 1 cup cooked (140g) | 220 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Pea | 1/2 cup (72g) | 62 |
| Bell Pepper | 1 medium (119g) | 31 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Shallot | 1 tbsp minced (10g) | 7 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of small pasta (I used shells because I imagined the peas would nest in there and gah, such cuteness)
- 1/4 pound snow pea pods, ends trimmed
- 1/2 pound fresh summer peas, which yielded about 1 cup once shelled
- 3/4 to 1 cup Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (recipe below)
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted, skinned and seeded or the equivalent from a jar, drained
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (and up to 2 tablespoons more if you, like us, like that extra bite in your dressing)
- 1 tablespoon chopped shallot (about 1 small)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Several grinds of black pepper